Introduction to the 1898 Census - JewishGen

Introduction to the 

1898 Census 

of the Jewish Population 

Living in Podu Iloaiei, Romania 

Date: January 2, 2006 

Document-ID: PI_Census_Intro.doc 

Revision#: 3 

Editor: KM Elias

Introduction to the 1898 Podu Iloaiei Census pg 2 of 15 

Table of Contents 

1 FORWARD.......................................................................................................................................... 3 

2 THE ROM-SIG VERSION ................................................................................................................ 4 

2.1 EXPLANATORY CODES ...................................................................................................................... 5 

2.2 OCCUPATIONS ................................................................................................................................... 6 

3 THE ELECTRONIC VERSION........................................................................................................ 8 

3.1 HOW IT WAS PRODUCED................................................................................................................... 8 

3.2 NEW FEATURES................................................................................................................................. 8 

4 ADDITIONAL NOTES ...................................................................................................................... 9 

4.1 SURNAMES ........................................................................................................................................ 9 

4.2 GIVEN NAMES ................................................................................................................................. 10 

x1_PI_Census_Intro2.doc


1 Forward 

It gives me great pleasure to reproduce the 1898 Podu Iloaiei Census. 

The census was extracted from the State Archives in Iasi, by Dr. Itic Svart-Kara and in 1990 was 

published in his book Obstea Evreiasca din...Podu Iloaiei. It was later translated into 

English and made available to ROM-SIG by arrangement of Nat Abramowitz. In July 2001 I 

scanned it into the current electronic format (see accompanying Excel files). 

KM Elias Sep/2003 

Toronto, Canada 



2 The ROM-SIG Version 

The following introduction appeared together with the census in ROM-SIG NEWS, Vol. 5, No. 

2, Winter 1996-97: 

Podu Iloaiei, a small and poor town in the Moldavian region of Romania, does not 

appear on many maps. It is about 17 miles west and slightly north of the famous city of 

Iasi. Yet a book of 168 tightly printed pages about this town's Jewish life was 

published in 1990, describing (in Romanian) its history, local economy, cultural 

activities, synagogues, rabbinical traditions, etc. Of special interest to genealogists, 

the book also contains several censuses of the Jews living in this town. The 

earliest was dated 1824 and the latest 1898. It is the 1898 census, consisting of 

some 723 names and taking up just 26 pages, that we have extracted and translated. 

The task was a truly communal one: Nat Abramowitz did most of the translation, but 

several of the archaic words for various occupations stumped him. We sent the words 

out over the Internet to over 140 of our members and elicited many replies. In 

particular, Sandi Goldsmith just "happened" to be in Bucharest and engaged the 

entire staff of her husband's branch office in solving the definitions. Also, Marcel 

and Mary Bratu pulled out their own ancient dictionary and defined many of the 

words. 

The book is Obstea Evreiasca din...Podu Iloaiei (The Jewish Community of 

Podu Iloaiei), and is subtitled "Pages from the History of a Moldavian Shtetl" 

Much of the narrative material was written by Dr. Kara, although several others also 

contributed. We believe that many of the first 97 pages, which precede the census 

tables, would be of interest to our members, but we need one or more volunteers to 

review the material and translate the best parts into English. Any volunteers? 

In translating the census table, we encountered several odd words and apparent 

inconsistencies. Where there was not room to comment within the table, we 

inserted a code, such as [ac]. All such codes are explained in a list that follows the 

table. 

We also include here a list of the occupations found in the census table. This may be 

useful for our readers when translating other documents. 



2.1 Explanatory Codes 

These are the explanatory codes used by Nat Abramowitz in the RomSig edition. 

Aa #1 and #3 say vaduva (widow), yet these are men with wives. Perhaps #2 and #4 are the 

widows intended. 

On the other hand, #56, 402, 403, 452, 517 say vaduv (widower), but entry is for a woman. 

Ab Entry is sotie (spouse); her name was not learned 

Ac #211: age 24, but in Podu Iloaiei for 30 years! 

Ad #224: 3 ucenici (apprentices) 

Ae #295: in Children column.. ..un serv de 15 ani (a 15-year-old male servant) 

Af #310: 1 ucenic (apprentice) 

Ag Various, including #312: 1 serv (servitor, bondsman) 

Ah #327, #328: no entry in these columns 

ai #374: 1 frate mic (young brother) 

aj #482: 6 children, 1 frate (brother) 

Ak #496,497: #497 says "spouse of the haham." She may be the spouse of #496. Note same 

ages and same time in Podu Iloaiei, yet different last names. 

Ba #340: abbreviated as serv. Thus, we dont know the gender of this servant. 

Bb #208: says vaduva (widow), yet both names appear to be female 

Be #328: venit acum (just arrived) 

Bd #700: male's age is 21 , wife's age is 52 

Be #706: male's age is 28, wife's age is 60 



2.2 Occupations 

Nat Abramowitz had the following occupations, appearing in the census, translated 

from Romanian to English. 

Barbier hairdresser; frlzer = hair-cutter 

Belfer teacher (elementary, not high school) 

Birjar probably bijar: coachman 

Blanar furrier 

Blat plasterer 

Boiangiu, boiangita Dyer 

bragagiu bulgar Person who produces or sells braga, a soft drink made from maize, rye or 

millet, boiled and fermented 

Monica Talmor says, "There were, and probably still are, bars in Romania 

which served only this drink, and where men usually went to socialize. I 

remember going with my father to such a place and eating cheese pie." 

brutar, brutirfe baker 

Butnar cooper, barrelmaker 

Cafegiu coffee house keeper 

caramidar brickmaker 

Casap butcher 

ceaprazar manufacturer or merchant selling silk or golden thread to make laces/cords, 

ribbons, tassels to adorn adorn military uniforms; by extension, manufacturer 

of military caps and other accessories of military costumes. 

On the other hand, we are told: ceprezar.....beretmaker, maker of small 

caps but not of hats. 

Ceaus minor official: doorkeeper, courier, usher, leader of small group 

of minor officials 

cirnatar, carnatar person who makes or sells sausages 

ciubotar bootmaker 

Cizmar shoemaker 

Cofetar confectioner 

Cojocar coatmaker, perhaps of animal skins; not a furrier 

comerciant merchant; dealer 

contabil accountant (rather than bookkeeper) 

cotiugar carter; wagoner 

covrigar bagelmaker 

Croitor tailor 

croitorcasa seamstress 

Dacal probably, daical: piwate tutor, or Orthodox church Jeacoa (not a Jew) 

Fierar ironworker 

Haham schochet (ritual slaughterer of chickens) 

Hangiu innkeeper 

invatator 

teacher 

liber, libera 

self-employed handyman 

medic 

physician 

moasa 

midwife 

muncitor 

laborer 



Murar 

Pescar 

Pietrar 

pitar 

precupet, precupeata 

propr. case 

rabin 

Roman ardelean 

miller 

fisherman; appears sometimes in census as pascar 

stone mason 

bread maker 

huckster 

owmer of property; landlord 

rabbi 

Transylvanian novelist, or writer of romances set in Transylvania 

rotar 

wheelwright 

sacagiu 

water carrier 

saidacar 

craftsman who makes ecclesiastical (church, synagogue) objects and 

attire. 

scortr 

makes small, simple rugs or carpets 

serv., serva 

servant or waiter 

stoler 

joiner 

tinichigiu 

tinsmith 

veterinar veterinarian 



3 The Electronic Version 

3.1 How It Was Produced 

The census was scanned into electronic format by KM Elias in July/2001 from the ROM-SIG 

hardcopy. Unfortunately the results were not perfect. The Optical Character Recognition (OCR) 

software had difficulty with Romanian accented letters such as S and T. In most cases S became a 

special character and T became a J. The resulting document was edited and these were changed to 

unaccented S and Ts. Therefore when you see letters S and T, please beware that they may really be 

accented letters (pronounced as Sh and Tz respectivley). The OCR software caused other problems as 

well. We corrected whatever we found, however there is the possibility that some errors were 

overlooked. 

3.2 New Features 

We have also added a new column, Last Name, to the electronic version of the census. The ability to 

sort by last name will help researchers find information more easily. 

In most cases we arrived at the surname by stripping away everything except the last word of the full 

name. This rule does not always work well, especially in the case of women. For example: 

Record# Full Name Assumed Last 

Name 

Comment 

4 Bella Smil Lupu Lupu Smil Lupu may have been 

Bella’s husband. Lupu may 

have been his middle name 

rather than surname. 

11 Solomon sin Moise Sin Moise His surname may be “sin 

Moise”. However he may 

not have a surname and this 

only means that he is the son 

of Moise. 

12 Moise sin M. 

Solomon 

Sin M. Solomon 

18 Smil M. Rosu Rosu 

33 Rifca Simon Itic Simon Itic may have been 

Rifca’s husband. Itic may 

have been his middle name 

rather than surname 



The Excel file shows the list arranged in four different sequences: 

1. Record# 

2. Last Name 

3. First Name 

4. Wife’s First Name 

4 Additional Notes 

4.1 Surnames 

Some JewishGen/PoduIloaiei researchers have been disappointed not finding their 

ancestors in the census. I must caution that the census in its current form may not be 

complete. The material went through a lot of different processes: 

• Kara transcribing from the source documents (which themselves may have been 

incomplete) 

• Printing of Kara's book 

• Nat Abramowitz transcribing and translating the material in the book for 

publication in the RomSig Journal. 

• My electronic scanning of the RomSig material. (After scanning there was still a 

lot of tidying up to do, but that wouldn't account for missing records – only 

mispelled names). 

But I wouldn't rush to any conclusions. I was also perplexed why the siblings of my 

great-grandparents were missing from the census, until I found other civic records 

showing them residing in some of the surrounding communities. 

Another major obstacle in identifying ancestors is the fact that a large number of entries 

appear without surnames. Apparently the adoption of surnames was a rather late 

innovation in PI. Nat Abramowicz couldn’t find his father on the census because he 

didn’t adopt the name Abramowicz until he left PI for America. 

Others were more successful in finding their ancestors amongst the non-surnamed entries 

such as Avram sin Moise. So look closely at all the entries. 



4.2 Given Names 

The letters in the Romanian alphabet do not always sound phonetically the same as they 

do in English. Consequently the Hebrew and Yiddish origins of many given names listed 

in the census may not be readily apparent. The following table shows the origins. 

Romanian 

Spelling 

Gender 

F=Fem. 

Origin 

H=Hebrew 

x1_PI_Census_Intro2.doc 

Corresponding 

Hebrew or Yiddish 

Transliterated into 

English 

English Meaning 

or Current 

English Spelling 

Aba H Aba father 

Adela F Adela 

Aizic H Yitschok Isaac 

Alla F Alla 

Alta Alta old 

Altar Altar old 

Alter Alter old 

Ana F Ana 

Ancel Anshel 

Aron H Aron Aaron 

Avner H Avner Abner 

Avram H Avraham Abraham 

Baba F Baba grandmother 

Basa F Basa 

Basea F Basia 

Basia F Basia 

Beika F Beika 

Beila F Beila beautiful 

Bela F Bela beautiful 

Bella F Bella beautiful 

Bercu H Boruch 

Beris Berish bear 

Besa F Besa 

Beti F Beti 

Blima F Blima 

Brana F Brana 

Bruha F H Bracha 

Calman Kalman 

Cearna F Cherna 

Cerna F Cherna 

Chitla F Chitla 

Chiva F H Chava 

Clara F Clara 

Copel Copel


Romanian 

Spelling 

Gender 

F=Fem. 

Origin 

H=Hebrew 


Corresponding 



English 


or Current 


Crana F Crana 

Dadiil Dadiil David 

David H David 

Dina F H Dina 

Dobris F Dobris 

Dvaire F H Devorah Deborah 

Dvoira F H Devorah Deborah 

Elca F Elca 

Elias H Eliyahu Elijah 

Elie M/F H Elie 

Enta F Enta 

Ester F H Esther 

Estera F H Esther 

Eti F Eti 

Etla F Etla 

Faibis Faivish/Favel 

Faiga F Faiga bird 

Feiga F Feiga bird 

Fisel Fishel 

Fitla F Fitla 

Freida F Freida happy 

Frima F Frima religious 

Froim H Ephraim 

Gehedala H Gedaliah 

Ghedale H Gedaliah 

Gheila F H Gila joy 

Ghersan H Gershon 

Ghersen H Gershon 

Ghersin H Gershon 

Ghidale H Gedaliah 

Ghidole H Gedaliah 

Ghitla F Ghitla good 

Gitla F Gitla good 

Golda F Golda gold 

Gute ? Gute good 

Haia F H Chaya 

Haike H Haike Chaim 

Haim H Chaim 

Ham H Chaim 

Hana F H Chana 

Hania F H Hania Chana


Romanian 

Spelling 

Gender 

F=Fem. 

Origin 

H=Hebrew 


Corresponding 



English 


or Current 


Hanja F Hania 

Hanta F H Hanta Hannah 

Hava F H Chava Eve 

Heilic Heilic 

Herjel Hershel horse 

Herscu Hershke horse 

Hinda F Hinda 

Hinde F Hinde 

Huna F H Chana Hannah 

Iancu H Yaakov Jacob 

Ichil H Yitschok Isaac 

Idea F Idea 

Idel H Yidel/Yehuda Judah 

Idla H Yidel/Yehuda Judah 

Ihil Ihil 

Ilie H Ilie/Eliyahu Elijah 

Inghel Yingel little boy 

Ioil H Yoel Joel 

Ioina H Yona Jonah 

Ioli H Yoel Joel 

Iosef H Yosef Joseph 

Iosif H Yosef Joseph 

Iosub H Yosef Joseph 

Isac H Isaac 

Istera F H Esther 

Ita Ita 

Ita F Ita 

Itic H Yitschok Isaac 

Itla F Itla 

Iuclea H Yaakov Jacob 

Iulia F Yulia 

Kiva H Akiva 

Laba F Leiba 

Lea F H Leah 

Leia F H Leah 

Leiba F Leiba 

Leibe F Leiba 

Leibu F Leiba 

Leizer H Elazer/Eliezer 

Lemel Lemel 

Liba F Leiba


Romanian 

Spelling 

Gender 

F=Fem. 

Origin 

H=Hebrew 


Corresponding 



English 


or Current 


Lifsa F Lifsa 

Lisa F Lisa 

Lupu Lupu 

Mahla F Machla 

Maia F Maia 

Malca F H Malca 

Malka F H Malka 

Manase H Menashe 

Manea F Manea 

Maria F Maria Miriam 

Matla F Matla 

Meer H Meyer 

Meier H Meyer 

Meir H Meyer 

Mendel Mendel 

Meolich H Melech king 

Mer H Meyer 

Metla F Metla 

Michel H Michel 

Mihel H Michel 

Mina F Mina 

Mindla F Mindla 

Mirca F Mirca 

Misca F Mishka 

Moisa H Moshe Moses 

Moise H Moshe Moses 

Muisoc H Moshe Moses 

Naftule H Naftali 

Nahama F H Nechama consolation 

Nahman H Nachman 

Nesa F Nesa 

Nuham H Nacham 

Nusan H Natan 

Nusim H Nissim 

Nuta H Nuta 

Otemia F Otemia 

Pavel Pavel Paul 

Perla F Perla pearl 

Pesa F Pesa 

Pincu H Pinchas 

Posla F Posla


Romanian 

Spelling 

Gender 

F=Fem. 

Origin 

H=Hebrew 


Corresponding 



English 


or Current 


Rebeca F H Rivka Rebecca 

Recha F H Rachel 

Reiza F Reiza rose 

Reizl F Reizl 

Rica F Rica 

Rifca F H Rivka Rebecca 

Risla F Risla 

Riva F H Riva Rebecca 

Rivan H Rivan Reuben 

Riven H Rueven Reuben 

Roiza F Roiza rose 

Roza F Roza rose 

Ruhala F H Ruchala Rachel 

Ruhla F H Rachel 

Runa F Runa 

Saia H Shaya Isaiah 

Saim H Shaya 

Sapsa Shepse sheep 

Sara F H Sara Sarah 

Sein F Sheyna beautiful 

Seina F Sheyna beautiful 

Seina F Sheyna beautiful 

Seindl F Sheyna beautiful 

Seindla F Sheyna beautiful 

Seindle F Sheyna beautiful 

Seine F Sheyna beautiful 

Sender Sender Alexander 

Sifra F H Shifra 

Sima F Sima 

Simon H Shimon Simon 

Slima H Shlomo Solomon 

Sloim H Shlomo Solomon 

Smil H Shmuel Samuel 

Sofia F Sofia 

Sofica F Sofica 

Solomon H Solomon Solomon 

Sosa F Sosa 

Strul H Yisroel Israel 

Sulem H Shalom 

Sulim H Shalom 

Sura F H Sarah


Romanian 

Spelling 

Gender 

F=Fem. 

Origin 

H=Hebrew 


Corresponding 



English 


or Current 


Teba F H Tova 

Teitl F Teitl 

Tipra F H Tziporah 

Tirla F Tirla 

Tivia H Tuvia 

Toba F H Tova 

User H Asher 

Vigder H Avigdor 

Volf Volf wolf 

Zaida Zaida grandfather 

Zeida Zeida grandfather 

Zeilic Zeilic 

Zelda F Zelda 

Zisla F Zisla sweet 

Zisu Zisu sweet

Introduction to the 1898 Census - JewishGen

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